More options, harder choices: where the Hawks begin in 2026–27

By Rodney Holloway

Preview · Hawks

The Hawks have added choices. Quin Snyder’s job is to turn them into combinations that make sense together.

Luguentz Dort and Aaron Wiggins join a team built around returning contributors including Jalen Johnson, CJ McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Dyson Daniels. Rookies Kingston Flemings and Zuby Ejiofor add another set of decisions about minutes, development and what each lineup needs.

Atlanta’s last season ended at 46–36, sixth in the Eastern Conference, followed by a first-round playoff exit, according to the NBA’s dated season preview. The 2026–27 campaign begins with the question of how the new pieces can improve on that finish.

Dort’s arrival changes the available perimeter combinations. The NBA’s July transaction report documents the three-team deal with Oklahoma City and Dallas that sent Zaccharie Risacher to the Mavericks. Ryan Nembhard also came to Atlanta in that deal; the July transaction is a record of an acquisition, not confirmation of his opening-night status after subsequent moves.

From a basketball standpoint, more perimeter options could let Atlanta vary who pressures the ball and who takes the next assignment. The test is how those jobs connect. Pressure at the first point of attack doesn’t finish a possession if the next rotation is late. A good initial contest still needs someone to collect the rebound.

That makes lineup fit more interesting than a list of individual reputations. Which groups can stay connected defensively without giving up too much ballhandling or shooting at the other end? Who creates the next option when the first ballhandler gets pressured? The answer may change with the opponent.

Wiggins offered an early offensive example in the October 16 preseason finale. He scored 19 points and made four of nine threes against Dallas. It was a productive night, but one exhibition can’t settle his regular-season role or his place in a closing lineup. The next step is to see what opportunities Atlanta creates for him as the minutes stabilize.

The rookies’ Dallas lines came in different-sized opportunities. Flemings had 10 points and six assists in 21 minutes. Ejiofor finished with four points and two rebounds in six. The workloads matter: those totals shouldn’t be read as a direct comparison between players doing the same job for the same length of time.

There are new staff roles to follow, too. Atlanta’s September announcement named Jason Love an assistant coach, Ettore Messina a coaching consultant and Sergi Oliva a basketball strategy and development advisor. Those appointments give the reporting a starting point. Connecting a particular change on the floor to a coach’s work will require observation and attributed reporting.

The Hawks finished preseason 4–1. The regular season will now supply the evidence that exhibitions can’t: which groups Snyder trusts when the opponent has its preferred players on the floor, which combinations preserve spacing and which choices hold up late in a close game.

The opener is where those questions become possessions to examine. An official active-roster check, confirmed availability and the actual opening lineup should lead the next update.

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Dyson Daniels at an Atlanta Hawks meet-and-greet, January 25, 2025. Archive portrait, not game action. Photo: 404×404. Image source. CC BY 4.0; resized and displayed with crop.